New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday accused the Modi government of returning to the principles of Manusmriti by coming out with a new draft Shram Shakti policy released earlier this month which claims 'Manusmriti' embeds the moral basis of labour governance within the civilisational fabric.
Congress general secretary, communications, Jairam Ramesh alleged that the Modi government's return to the Manusmriti principles is in keeping with the traditions of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which had attacked the Constitution of India soon after it was adopted.
"The Modi Government's draft Shram Shakti Niti 2025 released earlier this month for public feedback explicitly claims that the Manusmriti embeds 'the moral basis of labour governance within India's civilisational fabric, centuries before the rise of modern labour law'," Ramesh said in a post on X.
"This return to the principles of the Manusmriti is in keeping with the RSS's most cherished traditions. After all it had attacked the Constitution of India soon after it was adopted - on the grounds that it did not derive inspiration from the ideals and values of Manu as embodied in the Manusmriti," the Congress leader also said in his post.
He shared the text of the new policy which says, "Ancient texts such as the Manusmriti, Yajnavalkyasmriti, Naradasmriti, Sukraniti, and Arthashastra articulated this ethos through the concept of rajadharma, emphasising the sovereign's duty to ensure justice, fair wages, and the protection of workers from exploitation.
"These early formulations embedded the moral basis of labour governance within India's civilisational fabric, centuries before the rise of modern labour law."
(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and auto-generated from an agency feed.)
